I live up in the outskirts of the Chicago Burbs... much closer to Wisconsin than the city. It isn't an area known for being a mecca of handmade goods, but I was thrilled to recently find out about a little shop just 15 minutes from home (through a mama in my local mom's group) that offers a bunch of tie-dyed clothing, hand-stitched upcycled tee pillows, glass marble magnets and push-pins, upcycled wool bags and fingerless gloves made from sweaters, hemp jewelry, and so on. How wonderful to find a kindred spirit so close to home in this cool little shop.

I neglected to get the owner's name, but we did talk dyeing for awhile and a little about thrifting too (there's a little room in the back of vintage and thrifted goods, which is also right up my alley). They don't have an online presence at all yet, but if you happen to be up in the McHenry, Illinois area, be sure to check the shop out. It's called Peace Offerings and is located on Main Street in downtown McHenry, between Route 31 and Crystal Lake Road just a block south of Route 120.

Next time I go back I should ask if I could take some pictures to share.

it's stocking day at http://hyenacart.com/LilyPadLanding/ this afternoon at 3pm. i squeaked out a few skeins of yarn... one inspired by wine (i had a glass while dyeing after all) and one by fiery fall colors. my camera is not picking up the variety of tone in the second one but this is the best shot i got of the 100 i must have taken on every background imaginable. sometimes you just have to see it in person. *sigh*

anyway, enjoy some pictures! first up is "A Little Wine" on licorice twist, then "Fall For Me" on merino/nylon fingering, and finally a grid of many of the lovely items we have stocking or already instock at lily pad landing.

my next stocking is coming up on tuesday at fresh. our theme is elation. inspiration struck a little late for me on this one, but things are in the works. watch for a possible newborn remix, a new design, and some others in sizes and colors people might have been looking for.

no pictures to share yet but i'll try to get some up tomorrow. maybe. if i'm not too busy scrambling to get listings done still.

on the horizon is a lily pad landing stocking on thursday and continuing work on the yarn lovers unite order. busy times, especially since i need to pack all my dyes and pots away for the weekend for hosting the kiddos' joint family birthday party with 20-some people on sunday. my kitchen is going to look naked without dye jars, bins and pots on every flat surface. the zen will only last a few days before it all gets pulled back out and looks all cluttered in here again.

also watch for a charity listing for a YPS/color Heartfeet tee on the Family Pendragon cart on HC, and a few things might pop up at etsy in the next few weeks. Plus I have a set up nice fall napkins offered as part of a giveaway (pictured above) that will be on the Etsy HC Street Team blog within the next few days, as well as a few things planned for K and F Shops' anniversary stocking later this month. :)

jasper was supposed to wear tie-dye or something with a peace sign for school today. well he had his heart set on a peace sign, though he had a few tie=dye shirts he could have worn instead. mom to the rescue! here's what i made for him. ignore his expression—it's his "get this over with so i can watch netflix before i have to leave for school" look. well at least he didn't say it and was probably just thinking it, right? that's peaceful.

it's stocking day at Lily Pad Landing and i have several tees, a few sets of cloth napkins, and several colorways up for grabs. the other vendors outdid themselves with many gorgeous offerings as well. just take a look at some of what we have stocking... it all goes live at 3pm eastern. enjoy!

once again i haven't updated and have missed several stockings. just had a few collabs sell today with wild child woolies. angela rocks. go to http://hyenacart.com/WildChildWoolies/ to check out the other things instock. if i had a wee one still i'd be all about these two listings in particular... love love love!

and then finally i will have 2 things stocking on may 1st at http://hyenacart.com/TadpolesNButterflies/ for their 8 year anniversary (wow!). No pics yet... still wrapping things up but I will say that one is a super collab with Brooke of Family Tree Glass and the other will involve trees as well, bringing back a design I did a few years back and always wanted to offer again.

in other news, customs have come to an unintentional standstill again as i'm juggling stockings and a few group orders i was crazy enough to overlap several weeks. if i make it through the next few months without my head exploding or the house from all the mess i leave in my wake, i'll be very thankful! and i'm always thankful for my customers and those writing in about possible customs (which i'm sorry to say i can not take any more on at this point but people are always free to hint at certain designs, sizes of colors they'd love to see stocked at some point). ;) everything is keeping me hopping!

it's time to revive this blog. hopefully. big, exciting stuff happening this year and once i get into a good groove, i think it will all be tons of fun. while i'm still finding that groove, well... i'm feeling a little bit crazed. i'm working on it.

tomorrow i will be submitting an application to be a vendor at my first show. and what an awesome show it is! midwest fiber and folk was held the last 3 years just one town away from me and i've gone each time to lose myself in fibery goodness as a customer or student. this year it is being held a bit further away in grayslake, illinois -- but still within easy driving distance. cross your fingers for me i get in. if i do, i'll be sharing a booth with the amazing jen of starving artist bazaar. we've been friends since college and it's so neat that we share a love for making and selling handmade goodies over a decade later. oh heck 15 years now? i shouldn't have actually done the math.also coming up this week will be a stocking at alchemy. we're doing a cool "spring cleaning and greening" theme -- which means there will not only be some new green goods there, but some deals on some things certain vendors have sitting around waiting for the perfect home to go to! i should have at least one HC$ auction, some discounted prices, and a few new, regular-priced items as well.

and finally, i am going to finally revive my etsy shop! it's been sorely neglected for too long and i have several things waiting to go up there hopefully later this week. keep an eye out for those!